A human gene has been reported that may encode the enzyme acetohydroxyacid synthase. Previously this enzyme was thought to be absent from animals although it is present in plants and many microorganisms. In plants, this enzyme is the target of a number of commercial herbicides and the use of these compounds may need to be reassessed if the human enzyme exists and proves to be susceptible to inhibition. Here we report the construction of several plasmid vectors containing the cDNA sequence for this protein, and their expression in Escherichia coli. High levels of expression were observed, but most of the protein proved to be insoluble. The small amounts of soluble protein contained little or no acetohydroxyacid synthase activity. Attempts to refold the insoluble protein were successful insofar as the protein became soluble. However, the refolded protein did not gain any acetohydroxyacid synthase activity. In vivo complementation tests of an E. coli mutant produced no evidence that the protein is active. Incorrect folding, or the lack of another subunit, may explain the data but we favor the interpretation that this gene does not encode an acetohydroxyacid synthase.

The depletion of intracellular calcium stores by thapsigargin treatment evoked extracellular calcium-dependent membrane currents in Xenopus laevis oocytes. These currents have been compared to those evoked by microinjection of a calcium influx factor (CIF) purified from Jurkat T lymphocytes. The membrane currents elicited by thapsigargin treatment (peak current, nA) or CIF injection (peak current, nA) were both dependent on calcium entry, based on their eradication by the removal of extracellular calcium. The currents were, in both cases, attributed primarily to well-characterized currents, based on their similar reversal potentials (-24 mV vs. -28 mV) and their inhibition by niflumic acid (a channel blocker). Currents induced by either thapsigargin treatment or CIF injection exhibited an identical pattern of inhibitory sensitivity to a panel of lanthanides, suggesting that thapsigargin treatment or CIF injection evoked currents by stimulating calcium influx through pharmacologically identical calcium channels. These results indicate that CIF acts on the same calcium entry pathway activated by the depletion of calcium stores and most lanthanides are novel pharmacological tools for the study of calcium entry in Xenopus oocytes.

In order to develop a specific genetic marker for the Korean native cattle (Hanwoo), an arbitrarily-primed polymerase chain reaction (AP-PCR) analysis of 6 different cattle breeds was attempted. Eight different arbitrary primers, each longer than 20-mer nucleotides, were used. In comparison to the AP-PCR patterns, several distinctive DNA bands that are specific for a certain breed were detected. When the primer Kpn-X was employed, a 280bp DNA fragment was found to be specific only for Hanwoo. In an individual analysis of Hanwoo, this AP-PCR marker was observed in 123 head of cattle among the 153 that were tested (80.4%). Nucleotide sequencing revealed that this fragment has a short microsatellite sequence of tandem repeat, . According to the analysis of AP-PCR band patterns, Hanwoo was discovered to be genetically most closely-related with Holstein among the various cattle breeds.

A fulminant hepatitis is associated with massive liver cell necrosis and a high mortality rate. But survivors regenerate a normal liver and do not have chronic liver disease. This clinical course suggests that the acutely injured livers release a factor that allows a recovery from chronic hepatitis or cirrhosis. The objective of this study was to isolate and characterize an anti-fibrotic factor from acutely damaged rat livers. The liver cell necrosis was prepared from rat by warm ischemical perfusion and the perfusates were assessed against the growth inhibition of fat-storing cells (FSC). A liver-derived growth inhibitory factor (LDGIF) was purified from ischemically damaged rat livers by chromatographies on Sephacryl S-300, CM Sepharose, hydroxyapatite, and Superose 12. The LDGIF was isolated with an overall purification of 194-fold and 40% recovery. Although LDGIF was identified as the rat liver arginase by Nterminal sequence analysis, LDGIF exists as a monomer and the purified native arginase has a trimer form. Furthermore, LDGIF has a lower enzyme activity on the hydrolysis of L-arginine and a higher inhibitory effect on proliferation of FSC than the normal rat liver arginase. The catalytic activity of LDGIF is ascribed to the monomeric characteristics of the LDGIF. Therefore, the inhibitory action of LDGIF might not be due to the arginine depletion by the catalytic activity of arginase. In conclusion, the presence of the LDGIF could interpret the clinical course that serious fibrosis is not found in the liver of patients recovering from severe hepatic necrosis due to fulminant hepatitis, suggesting that this LDGIF may provide a novel target for the prevention and treatment of hepatic fibrosis.

The distribution of barbiturates in the model membranes of total lipids (SPMVTL) and total phospholipids (SPMVPL) extracted from synaptosomal plasma membrane vesicles was determined by employing a fluorescent probe technique. The two fluorescent probes 2-(9-anthroyl)stearic acid and 12-(9-anthroyl)stearic acid were utilized as probes for the surface and the hydrocarbon interior of the outer monolayer of the SPMVTL and SPMVPL, respectively. The Stern-Volmer equation of fluorescent quenching was modified to calculate the relative distribution. The analysis of preferential quenching of these probes by barbiturates indicates that pentobarbital, hexobarbital, amobarbital and phenobarbital are predominantly distributed on the surface area, while thiopental sodium has an accessibility to the hydrocarbon interior of the outer monolayer of the SPMVTL and SPMVPL. From these results, it is strongly suggested that the more effective penetration into the hydrocarbon interior of the outer monolayer of the membrane lipid bilayer could result in a higher general anesthetic activity.

The steady-state investigation of the mechanism of Dhydroxyisovalerate dehydrogenase was performed in order to understand this type of kinetic patterns. The initial velocity was measured with various amounts of both substrates, NADPH and 2-ketoisovalerate. Double reciprocal plots gave patterns that conversed on or near the abscissa. Binding studies indicated that NADPH bound first to the enzyme. The product was found to be a competitive inhibitor with respect to NADPH at a constant concentration of 2-ketoisovalerate. However, it showed noncompetitive inhibition against 2-ketoisovalerate at a fixed amount of NADPH. Another product, D-hydroxyisovalerate, was a non-competitive inhibitor versus NADPH and 2-ketoisovalerate at constant levels of 2-ketoisovalerate and NADPH, respectively. These results were comparable with an ordered bi-bi mechanism, in which NADPH bound first to the enzyme, followed by the binding of 2- ketoisovalerate. is the last product to be released. The ordered reaction manner of D-hydroxyisovalerate dehydrogenase from 2-ketoisovalerate to D-hydroxyisovalerate allows the accurate regulation of valine metabolism and it may lead to the regulation of total biosynthesis of enniatins in the Fusarium species.

A new type of the human TSA homologous gene was cloned from a HeLa cell cDNA and characterized. The gene product consists of 161 amino acids with a molecular mass of 16,900. The TSA homologous protein, as a new 6th member of the human TSA (hTSA VI), exerted a thioldependent peroxidase activity with the use of thioredoxin system as a physiological electron donor. The values of of hTSA VI for and t-butyl hydroperoxide (t-BOOH) were calculated as and , respectively. This implies that hTSA VI is a peroxidase, which reduces and t-BOOH. The mutation of to serine resulted in a complete loss of the peroxidase activity. This suggests that acts as a primary site of catalysis. The analysis of the tryptic digest derived from hTSA VI revealed that the exists as a free thiol form. Taken together, these results suggest that the TSA homologous protein is a new type of the human family, which exerts thioredoxin-linked peroxidase activity toward and alkyl hydroperoxide.

Phage display of proteins is a powerful tool for protein engineering since a vast library of sequences can be rapidly screened for a specific property. In this study, we develop da new phage display vector that was derived from a pET-25b(+) vector. The pET-25b(+) was modified in order that the expressed protein would have a T7-tag at the amino terminus and GpS (a major coat protein of M13 phage) at the carboxyl terminus. Another vector without the gp8 gene was also constructed. The newly developed phagemid vectors have several advantageous features. First, it is easy to examine whether or not the target proteins are functional and faithfully transported into the periplasmic space. This feature is due to the fact that recombinant proteins are produced abundantly in the pET system. Second, the T7-tag makes it possible to detect any target proteins that are displayed on the surface of filamentous bacteriophage. To verify the utility of the vector, the clones containing the glutathione S-transferase (GST) gene as a target were examined. The result showed that the GST produced from the recombinant vector was successfully transported into the periplasmic space and had the anticipated enzyme activity. Western blot analysis using a T7-tag antibody also showed the presence of the target protein displayed on the surface of the phage. The phages prepared from the recombinant clones were able to bind to glutathione-Sepharose and then eluted with glutathione. These results showed that the new vectors developed in this study are useful for the phage display of proteins.

The Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) has been a major cause of bacterial meningitis in children who are less than two years old. The variable (V) region repertoire of adult Caucasian antibodies (Abs) to Hib polysaccharide (PS) has been characterized well. The majority of adult antibodies against Hib uses VL that is derived from the Vk gene A2 and have arginine at the N region. In order to explore the possibility those antibody responses to Hib-PS is variable in various age groups, we examined the VL regions of the antibodies to Hib-PS in Korean adults and children. We immunized Korean adults (n = 8) and children (n = 39) with Hib tetanus conjugated vaccines, isolated RNAs from the peripheral lymphocytes, and amplified the A2-derived VL regions by RT-PCR. The PCR products were subcloned and sequenced. Forty-seven out of 54 independent clones from children used the , or gene in preference. The adults, however, used all of the genes evenly. With respect to the amino acid sequences of variable regions, adult recombinants have a germline sequence. But, the 76th codon (AGC) of child recombinants was substituted with CGC (arginine) in most cases (88 %) and 77 percent of child clones using the genes have isoleucine-109 at the junction of instead of threonine that is found in a germline sequence. These results suggest that the mechanism of antibody production in young children is different from that of adults.

In this study the disassembly process of chlorophyII (ChI)protein complexes of a stay-green mutant (ore10 of Arabidopsis thaliana) was investigated during the dark incubation of detached leaves. During this dark-induced senescence (DIS), the Chi loss was delayed in the mutant, while the photochemical efficiency of photosystem II (PSII) or Fv/Fm was accelerated when compared with the wild type (WT) leaves. This indicates that the decrease in Fv/Fm is a separate process and not causally-linked to the degradation of Chi during DIS of Arabidopsis leaves. In the native green gel electrophoresis of the Chi-protein complexes, which was combined with an additional twodimensional SDS-PAGE analysis, the delayed senescence of this mutant was characterized by the appearance of an aggregate at 1 d or 2 d, as well as very stable light harvesting complex II (LHCII) trimers until 5 d after the start of DIS. The polypeptide composition of the aggregates varied during the whole DIS at 5 d. Dl protein appeared to be missing in the aggregates. This result supports the idea of a faster depletion of functional PSH in the mutants compared with WT, as suggested by the earlier reduction of Fv/Fm and the stable Chl a/b ratio in the mutants. At 5 d, the WT leaves also often showed aggregates, but the polypeptide composition was different from those of ore10. The results presented suggest that the formation of aggregates, or stable LHCII trimers in the stay-green mutants, is a way to structurally protect Chi-protein complexes from serious proteolytic degradation. Detailed disassembly processes of Chi-protein complexes in WT and ore10 mutants are discussed.

We cloned (histone deacetylase 1) of fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. The hda1 of S. pombe was previously reported to encode for an active histone deacetylase (Rundlett et al., 1996; Olsson et al., 1998). The is phylogenetically related to the new open reading frame HOS2 of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and only shows a partial homology to the well-known histone deacetylase subclasses, RPD3 and HDA1. A single hda1 mRNA of 1.8 kb was detected at the same level in actively growing and nitrogen-starved cells. When highly over-expressed in S. pombe from an inducible promoter, inhibited cell proliferation and caused defects in morphology and cell division. The increased histone deacetylase activity was detected in hdar over-expressing cells. These results suggest that the Hda1p should function on the regulation of cell division possibly by (Allfrey, 1966) direct deacetylation of cytoskeletal (Wade et al., 1997) and cell division regulatory proteins, (Wolffe, 1997) or by controlling their gene expressions.

In contrast to the pyrimidine (6-4)pyrimidone photoproduct [(6-4) adduct], its Dewar valence isomer (Dewar product) is low mutagenic and produces a broad range of mutations with a 42 % replicating error frequency. In order to determine the origin of the mutagenic property of the Dewar product, we used experimental NMR restraints and molecular dynamics to determine the solution structure of a Dewar·lesion DNA decamer duplex, which contains a mismatched base pair between the 3'-T residue and an opposed G residue. The 3'-T of the Dewar lesion forms stable hydrogen bonds with the opposite G residue. The helical bending and unwinding angles of the DW/GA duplex, however, are much higher than those of the DW/AA duplex. The stable hydrogen bonding of the G 15 residue does not increase the thermal stability of the overall helix. It also does not restore the distorted backbone conformation of the DNA helix that is caused by the forming of a Dewar lesion. These structural features implicate that no thermal stability, or conformational benefits of G over A opposite the 3'-T of the Dewar lesion, facilitate the preferential incorporation of an A. This is in accordance with the A rule during translesion replication and leads to the low frequent mutation at this site.

The postsynaptic density (PSD), a large protein complex beneath the postsynaptic membrane, is notorious for its 'stickiness'. In order to understand the molecular composition of the PSD fraction, a 17 kDa protein band was isolated by electroelution from SDS-geis, and its partial amino acid sequence was determined from HPLC-purified tryptic peptides of the protein. Surprisingly, the amino acid sequence was identical to that of the previously reported 17 kDa isoform of the myelin basic protein (MBP), an essential protein in CNS myelin formation. Since the protein band represented ~2% of the total proteins in the 1 % n-octyl glucoside-insoluble PSD fraction, these results indicate that a significant amount of the 17 kDa isoform of MBP is tightly associated with the PSD during preparation of the PSD fraction.

Using fluorescence probes, 2-(9-anthroyloxy) stearic acid (2- AS) and 12-(9-anthroyloxy) stearic acid (12-AS), we determined the differential effects of local anesthetics (tetracaine-HCI, bupivacaine-HCI, lidocaine-HCI, prilocaine-HCI and procaine-HCI) on the differential rotational rate between the surface (in carbon number 2 and its surroundings including the head group) and the hydrocarbon interior (in carbon number 12 and its surroundings) of the outer monolayer of the total phospholipid fraction liposome that is extracted from synaptosomal plasma membrane vesicles. The anisotropy (r) values for the hydrocarbon interior and the surface region of the liposome outer monolayer were and respectively. This means that the rate of rotational mobility in the hydrocarbon interior is faster than that of the surface region. Local anesthetics in a dosedependent manner decreased the anisotropy of 12-AS in the hydrocarbon interior of the liposome outer monolayer, but increased the anisotropy of 2-AS in the surface region of the monolayer. These results indicate that local anesthetics have significant disordering effects on the hydrocarbon interior, but have significant ordering effects on the surface region of the liposome outer monolayer.

Ferricytochrome c was artificially made to receive the aqueous electrons evolved through the influence of illuminated chloroplast. This ferricytochrome c, which was bombarded by electrons, was reduced to ferrocytochrome c by making sure that a certain cytochrome is reduced. This may require an electronic attack that is created by the chloroplast inside the plant cell. The possibility of reversing the oxidation of ferrocytochrome c by cytochrome oxidase was examined using a contrived redox system composed of cytochrome oxidase, ferricytochrome c and chloroplast with illumination. We recognized that the oxidase is unserviceable for the reversibleness in spite of the existence of chloroplast.